{"id":553971,"date":"2026-04-16T17:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/553971\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:27:23","slug":"alex-ovechkin-pretty-sure-about-capitals-retirement-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/553971\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Ovechkin ‘pretty sure’ about Capitals retirement decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Russian Machine isn\u2019t ready to shut it down just yet.<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL\u2019s all-time leading goal scorer, gave a peek into his mindset at the end of his 21st NHL season as rumors swirl around potential retirement<\/a> for the Capitals winger.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest with you, I\u2019m pretty sure it\u2019s not my last game. I hope it\u2019s not my last game, against Columbus,\u201d he said after Tuesday\u2019s 2-1 loss to the Blue Jackets, the team\u2019s season finale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to make a decision to see where we\u2019re at. The team, family. The kids are already asking me, \u2018Dad, are you staying or no?\u2019 And I tell them, \u2018We\u2019ll see.\u2019 They want me to come back. They love the city, they love the team, they love the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AlexAlex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals skates on the ice during the third period of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ovechkin, 40, completed the final season of a five-year, $47.5 million extension, and proved he can still contribute. While he may no longer be the consistent 50-goal scorer of earlier in his career, he posted 32 goals and 64 points over 82 games for the Caps (43-30-9) as they finished three points shy of the second wild card spot in the East.<\/p>\n

The Russian superstar, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, broke Wayne Gretzky\u2019s record of 895 goals<\/a> against the Islanders on Apr. 6, 2025, and currently stands alone atop of the NHL\u2019s leaderboard with 929 of his own in 1,572 games.<\/p>\n

He brought a Stanley Cup to the Capitals \u2014 and followed it with an epic summer-long party \u2014 and if he calls it a day stateside, would retire with 12 All-Star nods, three Hart Trophies and three Pearson trophies as league MVP, nine Rocket Richard trophies as the NHL\u2019s leading goal scorer, one Art Ross as the top point-getter and Rookie of the Year honors for 2005-06.<\/p>\n

As for his other options, Ovechkin made it clear the Capitals would be his only North American team \u2014 a possibility he said he\u2019ll have to discuss with Washington GM Chris Patrick \u2014 or potentially return home to play in Russia\u2019s KHL.<\/p>\n

\"AlexCapitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) battles for the puck against Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (65). AP<\/p>\n

The in-and-out grind will be a determining factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the summer, you have to work your ass off to get better and be in shape,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re 20, it\u2019s no big thing. When you\u2019re 40, it\u2019s harder and harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams hedged their bets down the stretch, with players and fans attempting to say goodbye in what might\u2019ve been their last glimpse of the man known as \u201cOvi.\u201d<\/p>\n

In what was a potentially telling sign, when longtime rival Sidney Crosby had his Penguins teammates ready to give him a handshake line sendoff, Ovechkin simply waved them off.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I don\u2019t decided yet,\u201d he said . \u201cI don\u2019t know. Thanks for them to wait out there, but I\u2019m going to see Sid right now after interview and [Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin]. We\u2019ll talk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Russian Machine isn\u2019t ready to shut it down just yet. Alex Ovechkin, the NHL\u2019s all-time leading goal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5114],"tags":[426,191,5,4,43,190,109,5222],"class_list":{"0":"post-553971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-capitals","8":"tag-alex-ovechkin","9":"tag-capitals","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-washington","14":"tag-washington-capitals","15":"tag-washingtoncapitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116415567000878241","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}